The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent the work is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
In large scale computing systems, a backplane is used to mount a number of storage drives and network communication devices, such as Disk Arrays, redundant array of independent disks (RAID) Subsystems, Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) and Fiber Channel (FC) Disk Array or Switched Disk Array Servers, and Telecommunication Equipment. A backplane controller chip installed on a backplane is used to facilitate a host computer to monitor and manage the storage and network devices installed on the backplane. The backplane controller chip provides an operator with detailed information regarding the presence and status of mass storage devices and network devices, provides facilities for generating visual indicators based upon backplane management data received from the host computer, and send the feedback from the backplane controller back to the host computer. For instance, individual light-emitting diodes (“LEDs”) may be driven by a backplane for displaying information regarding the activity, failure, rebuild status, and other information for each of the mass storage devices connected to the backplane. In order to provide these indicators and other types of functionality, a backplane typically provides connections for multiple mass storage devices, such as hard disk drives. The backplane also interfaces with the backplane controller chip to communicate with the mass storage devices. A backplane also may receive and transmit backplane management data to and from the host computer. Backplane management data is any data relating to the provision of backplane management services by a backplane.
Several different physical interfaces may be utilized to deliver backplane management data between the host computer and the backplane. The most popular protocols used in the backplane management are: the SCSI Enclosure Services (or SES) utilizing the system management bus (or I2C bus), and the SGPIO protocol utilizing an SGPIO interface to exchange backplane management information between the host computer and the backplane.
Conventionally, programming and verifying a backplane controller chip firmware requires physically install the backplane controller chip on the actual backplane controller and verifying its functionality through a series of tests. The programming and verifying the backplane controller chip firmware includes: (a) convert the firmware from source code to firmware binary image, (b) loading the backplane controller chip firmware binary image onto a memory portion of the backplane controller, (c) verifying the chip ID and firmware version, (d) programming the backplane controller chip with the backplane controller chip firmware binary image, (e) restarting the backplane controller, and (f) running tests for each function available to the backplane controller chip firmware. However, this process can be very costly, tedious and time consuming. It is desirable to have a backplane controller chip validation board that has a set of backplane controller chip sockets so the backplane controller chips can be installed quickly and conveniently, as well as all associated circuits on the backplane controller chip validation board to simulate a backplane, such that the new backplane controller chips can be validated through this backplane controller chip validation board quickly.
Therefore, heretofore unaddressed needs still exist in the art to address the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies.